A Vacation

I know my life is one long vacation, but sometimes I just have to get away. It was time for a vacation from the parking lot of RVs at the Elks Lodge. Heading north on I-25, it was a stressful start to the vacation. Traveling at 60 with trailer in tow, I -- and the semi ahead of me -- was passed by everything (including semis) where the suggested speed limit was 75 MPH.

50 miles later, it was with relief and great pleasure to arrive at Boyd Lake State Park. Campground spaces are large and many with trees.

Compared to the Elks, it is quiet. No nearby railway grade crossings. No apartment complex within miles. No high school practice fields next door.

The great part is that I can be in a natural world without driving to find a place to walk. Just step out of Wandrin Wagon and start walking.

The bike path is about a 100 yards away. Walking along the path, there are lots of birds going about their lives. Noted some kingbirds collecting nesting materials. The robin was gathering food for its nestlings. The meadowlark was perched on a post and warbling its distinctive tune.

The lakes along the bike path are a great place for the great blue heron to stand in the shallows hunting for a meal.

Or just standing on a tree branch.

A few years ago before the inner ear problem affected my balance, I had biked that paved trail from the campground to downtown Loveland. That distance could be walked. However, I do not enjoy walking on concrete. Especially for that distance.

Rather than just a vacation, Boyd Lake SP would be a great place to spend a couple of months. Suppose I could always get one of those positions as campground host. Hmmm. It's a thought.

While I think about that possibility, I will enjoy this two week vacation.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

After the latest revelations about the NSA snooping, there has been a large jump in sales for Nineteen Eighty-Four** -- the novel written by George Orwell in 1949.

To feed on the popularity of the book, I've heard from a reliable source, that the book 2013 will be published shortly.

2013 is a non-fiction book with details how the USA promotes perpetual war; a decades long surveillance of its population; and media brain washing through 24 hour news programs. Further, 2013 identifies the process through which the citizens' representatives for federal government are dictated by a small portion of the population who own all of the country's assets. Most of the citizens do not question the status quo of living in the USA. The few that would expose government malfeasance are discouraged through trials and long jail sentences.

---

Note: I made this up. No such book is to be published. At least, I am not aware of any book.

** The first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for Nineteen Eighty-Four: Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian novel by George Orwell published in 1949. The Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public mind control, dictated by a political system euphemistically named English Socialism (Ingsoc) under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite that persecutes all individualism and independent thinking as thoughtcrimes.

From The Gallery

Alfalfa

Memories from boyhood on the Wisconsin dairy farm
are the smells of freshly cut grasses and alfalfa. 

As the grass and alfalfa dries awaiting barn storage,
those fresh smells fill the air. 

Nothing like it.

Taking some shoots to relive that distinctive fresh smell, 

the next step was scanning and Photoshop enhancement.

Your assumption is correct. I am having fun doing this.

Walking

It was a walk at Standley Lake Regional Park. Didn't qualify as a hike. Hiking would require some exertion due to a changing elevation.

Considering the number of times I stopped looking for photo ops in those three miles, it might not qualify as a walk. Perhaps it was just resting interrupted by walking.

Yucca are beginning to bloom.

Good place for an infestation of aphids. With aphids, there are ladybugs. This pair of ladybugs is in the process of reproduction. At least the first step in the process.

After being stabbed by a yucca leaf, I was more careful where I stepped for future photos.

Probably a primrose that hadn't opened at the early hour I was walking.

More color for the green hillsides was provided by Indian paintbrush.

Other than the sound of some ducks on the lake, the other fauna was the prairie dog.

The hillsides were covered with the huge colony of prairie dogs.

Need some predators to help control the expansion. Where are the hawks, coyote and the fox.

It was a great restful walk. 

From The Gallery -- Almost

Bet you thought I created this with Photoshop.

Sorry. Not quite that creative. I noted what looked like eyes when I downloaded the photos. Had to share.

There is an open weave fence behind the iris. It was just a chance photo. Just moving left or right a half inch may have made a very different photo. Also would not have been as interesting.

Staying Cool

Reading the blogs I follow, there are many comments about the weather where RVing bloggers are parked. The most common weather -- depending on geographic location -- reports are about winds, heat, tornadoes, rain or flooding. One recently read post mentioned snow and cold. No cold or snow in Denver. It's warming heating up. Predictions for the week ahead are for several over 90 degree days.

Not complaining. This Denver stay was my choice for doctor, dentist, family and friends. If the hot weather is still an issue at the end of July, I will be heading to higher elevations -- and cooler temps -- in Colorado's mountains.

It's all about adapting. Get out in the morning for hikes before it heats up. Then head off for indoor exploring when it's hot outside. Or just go to an air conditioned Starbucks and do some reading.

Or I could just sprawl on a cool lawn under a shade tree.

The positive is that it cools down at night. Yup. That is a good thing.

From The Gallery

 

Some kind of grass.

Called tickle grass when I was a kid.

Also called squirrel tail of fox tail.

Selection was scanned and then Photoshop enhanced

Garbage Truck

Maybe not garbage. 

Considering the contents, it might be a recycling container.

Ya Gotta Wonder

A classic strip from Calvin and Hobbes (05/13/2013):

That is so true.

Standing in the check out line at the grocery store, this is the view as you wait.

Not too many years ago, that rack also displayed Time, Newsweek, and US News. Not today.

Quoting Calvin, "I know more about the private lives of celebrities than I do about any governmental policy that will actually affect me."

No wandering today. Just wondering.

From The Gallery

 

Grasses

From the gallery made with a scanner and Photoshop